The next morning, all of the candidates were called down into the parlor. I checked with Mark and the guards before I left the room. With my twin potentially lurking around, we’d taken to a password system to confirm my identity. The password would be changed every day and given only once in the morning.
Today’s word was fireplace.
With that set, and Elva sitting with the Nanny, I headed down to the parlor to meet with the others.
Susie was there, thank goodness, and seemed unharmed.
“I didn’t stay at the celebration much longer, after you left,” she said. “Julian walked me back to my room, which surprised me, but I figured you were behind his sudden shift in kindness.”
“I was worried about you.”
“I worried about you too, but Julian told me you were okay.”
We waited for a while, unt
